The JRR Certification Workshop was jointly organised by JRR Coordinating Group members No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ – Interim JRR Secretariat) and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI), with the financial support of the European Commission and the Governments of Canada and Finland. The workshop was hosted by NPWJ from 11‑14 September 2009 in the offices of NPWJ in central Brussels.

The idea of holding a short ‘Certification Workshop’ emerged from observations made during the JRR Pilot Training Course (PTC) in May 2009, the report of which recommended that “the range of expertise represented on the JRR roster can be greatly expanded in a very short time‑frame and at minimal expense by seeking experts who are already fully trained for international criminal justice-related deployment, and instead of a full course, providing them with short, JRR specific training. These experts could receive an estimated two-day workshop on how to apply their training to JRR situations and could be added to the JRR roster so that it is fully operational as soon as it is established”. The PTC report, including this recommendation, was shared with the Coordinating Group and Policy Group, after which NPWJ and IICI proceeded to implement its recommendations by organising the Certification Workshop.

The JRR Certification Workshop was therefore designed to meet two objectives: (1) to certify another group of experts to the JRR roster by providing experts who are already fully trained for international criminal justice-related deployment with training on how to apply their expertise to JRR situations; and (2) to test the short-course format with a view to applying it to future short certification courses. Each of these objectives was successfully met.

At the conclusion of the workshop, all participants were certified as experts on the JRR roster and could now be deployed if a request is received. The workshop served to create synergy between the participants, who, as the first members of the JRR roster, may find themselves working together on a JRR team in the future. It also provided an opportunity for participants, trainers and Observers to provide feedback on the course content and format which are summarized in this report and will help to improve future JRR training courses.

The JRR Certification Workshop Report (Eng/French to follow) outlines the content of the course and details specific recommendations made by participants, presenters and observers to help improve future JRR training courses and certification workshops.